The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

Outside the Seven Lords Palace.

Two elders dressed in black and white clothing sat across from each other. They were playing a game of chess and seemed to be deep in thought.

A letter in a white envelope was placed at the corner of the chess board. There were a few stains on the envelope. They had clearly not handed Elder Jiu’s personal letter to their leaders.

Shuffle.

Two shadow figures suddenly came from the sky. The elders took a glance in their direction, but pretended that nothing had happened and continued playing chess. The elders completely disregarded the two people who had just arrived, even though one of them was a descendant of the Great Lord.

“Give me the letter!” the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master yelled angrily.

She had always despised their prideful attitudes. Then, seeing how they did not even pass the letter on, she became infuriated.

The elder in a white robe did not budge. He simply continued to focus on the game of chess as if he had not heard her. As for the letter, he had not even glanced at it.

“You two!” the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master exclaimed angrily. She then walked over and grabbed the letter and said in a cold tone, “Alright, I will hear what you two have to say about this later!”

Filled with anger and embarrassment, the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master entered the Seven Lords Palace. Her special identity meant that the two elders would not be able to stop her. However, they casually glanced at Bai Chong.

Bai Chong instantly understood the meaning of their glances. This was the signal that meant that he was to wait outside quietly. Unlike the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master, he did not have a special identity that allowed him to enter the Seven Lords Palace at will.

Within the Seven Lords Palace, seven light screens floated in the air. Each of them was the size of a palm.

They were arranged according to height from the shortest to the tallest, and their placement was strict and neat. The seemingly normal light screens each represented the presence of a Lord.

The light screens had been personally set up by the King of Darkness. Each of them represented an internal space. Unless it was opened from within, it was unbreakable. Hence, nobody from the outside could break into it!

The seven internal spaces each connected to the Empire of Darkness’ treasure trove, which was filled with a shocking amount of Spiritual Energy. Training in that place for a day was equivalent to training in the external world for ten days. Currently, all of the Seven Lords of Darkness were cultivating within it.

“Greetings to the Seven Great Lords. I have something important to report to you,” the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master said.

As soon as she spoke, the light screens started spinning soundlessly and a black shadow figure appeared before her. The black shadow figure looked oddly mysterious.

“Why are you disturbing our cultivation?” One could not tell who was speaking, as the voice seemed to be overlapped with other noises.

The Heavenly Water Tower’s Master lifted the letter with both of her hands as she felt her chest tighten. “This is the letter that was left by the Heavenly Law Alliance Master Su Yu. Please have a look at it.”

Her gaze swept past the two light screens at the highest level. She looked somewhat disappointed that her grandfather, the Great Lord, and the Second Lord had not appeared, since they held the highest positions here.

“A request for military assistance? My apologies. We already knew about this. Why would you bother us with something as menial as this? Are you treating this place like it is your home? Even if you are the Great Lord’s descendant, you should be able to distinguish what is important and what is not.” The cool voice undoubtedly belonged to the Third Lord who had been released from Su Yu’s deadly grip.

The Heavenly Water Tower’s Master treated him with equal disrespect as she asked coldly, “Have you recovered from your injuries already? Your words are rather sharp.”

Suddenly, she felt a pair of cold eyes staring at her. She could sense the Third Lord’s anger and embarrassment.

Oh? The Third Lord was injured? The four other black shadow figures in the light screens wavered slightly.

The Heavenly Water Tower’s Master laughed for a moment before she spoke again, “Four Great Lords, this letter is meant for the King of Darkness. Please pass it on to him. This is an important matter that cannot be delayed any further.”

“The King of Darkness? He has refused to be involved with external affairs. So, there is no way that we can pass this letter to him. You can just leave it with us. If there is nothing else, you may leave now.” As the voice sounded, a sucking force pulled the letter out of her hand.

The Heavenly Water Tower’s Master could sense from their tones that they did not take this matter seriously. She suddenly felt anxious.

Indeed, the higher ranked people in the Empire of Darkness had never thought much of the Heavenly Law Alliance. They did not even regard Su Yu with the slightest respect.

“Great Lords, I would like to reiterate that his letter is very important. You must pass it to the King of Darkness.” The Heavenly Water Tower’s Master looked very determined as she urged them.

Hearing this, the Great Lords who were eager to continue their cultivations began to feel impatient.

“I was willing to stop cultivating because of your status as the Great Lord’s descendent. However, I hope that you will not bring a matter of such insignificance to our attention again. Let’s stop here. You must leave now.” The overlapping voices began to fill the space as a gentle force began to engulf the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master in order to push her out.

Seeing that they were unwilling to heed her advice, the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master said through gritted teeth, “Alright, I had originally intended to only let my grandfather know about this. However, there is no harm in letting you know now.”

As she finished her sentence, she began divulging the secrets that she had discovered from her spies. Instantly, the gentle force surrounding her dissipated.

The five shadow figures were vibrating greatly. They seemed to be communicating with each other.

After a while, five booming voices rang in her ears as the five black shadow figures exited from their respective spaces and revealed themselves. They were males and females of various ages, each dressed in different outfits.

Outside the room, the two elders who were engrossed in their game of chess suddenly shivered and looked very alert. “What has happened that caused the five Great Lords to appear altogether?” The elder in the white robe showed a look of surprise as he spoke.

The elder in the black robe felt slightly unnerved. “The last time the five Great Lords appeared was three years ago. Could something big have happened?”

As they recalled the earlier threat from the Heavenly Water’s Tower Master, the two frowned and entered a state of deep thought.

“Do you have proof of what you have just said?” an old man who had long white hair and a long beard asked her attentively. The other four Great Lords were equally concerned about this.

“I do not have solid proof. This news came from someone in the higher ranks in the Heavenly Law Alliance. Not many people know about this.” As she spoke, the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master looked very certain. “However, I would rather believe it than doubt it. Su Yu’s capabilities are indeed not measurable by common standards.”

Hearing this, the Great Lords entered states of deep thought.

The Third Lord sighed softly before he asked, “How dare you interrupt our training with such fabricated tales?”

Naturally, they did not believe that Su Yu was capable of killing a Divine Master.

“As we now know about this, we shall wait for the Great Lord to wake up before we discuss it any further.” The old man with a long beard shook his head.

He looked disappointed as he turned around. It seemed as if he was preparing to return to the light screen to cultivate.

The other Great Lords all started taking off at this moment. However, right then, the two light screens that had not budged earlier started emitting a frightening aura.

Then, two black shadow figures appeared. Their figures were blurry, so one could only see their contours. They were the legendary Great Lord and the Second Lord, who were second only to the King of Darkness in terms of power.

According to rumors, they had started cultivating alongside the King of Darkness hundreds of years ago, but had rarely appeared since. In fact, the only time that they had appeared was three years ago, when there was an odd change in the world. They had discontinued their training and appeared as two black shadow figures…

The true extent of their might was unknown to everyone, and today, they had appeared once again! The two elders outside suddenly reacted quite animatedly.

“Great Lord and the Second Lord have both awakened!” the cried out in unison.

Shuffle.

The two elders immediately rushed into the room and shouted at the same time, “Greetings, Great Lord and Second Lord!”

The two elders in black and white robes finally felt concerned and panicked. They wondered what the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master had said to awaken the two Great Lords.

The two elders did not have to display formalities in front of the other five Great Lords. However, the two Great Lords who had just appeared were the true masters and the pinnacles of their world!

“Give me the letter.” The Great Lord’s voice sounded old yet powerful. There was clearly no emotion within it, yet everyone felt an immense pressure descended upon their bodies immediately.

Even the old man with a long beard felt the color drain from his face as he handed the letter to the Great Lord with both of his hands. While maintaining a respectful manner, he also began to feel uneasy. As the letter landed in the black shadow figure’s hand, it was clear that it had not yet been opened.

“Jiu Yuanzhou’s letter…” The Great Lord’s voice rang through everyone’s ears and caused them all to shudder. “Sheng Yuan, I trusted you to carry out your duties. It this how you handle things? It is very disappointing.”

The old man with a long beard frantically bowed as his facial expression changed drastically. “Please forgive me, Great Lord. I did not know the importance of this letter.”

The old man felt fear growing in his heart, as did the other Great Lords. They all looked at the letter with surprise and confusion.

“Jiu Yuanzhou was an expert who was on par with the King of Darkness a long time ago. As such, his letter must be very important. How dare you delay this matter?” There was an added measure of retribution in the Great Lord’s tone.

The old man instantly turned pale in the face of the Great Lord’s displeasure. He began to tremble as he wondered…

Someone who is on par with the King of Darkness? Jiu Yuanzhou… What kind of expert is he?

“Although his cultivation has weakened and he is no longer as strong as before, his letter should not have been delayed. You will face the wall outside and think about your mistake for three years,” the Great Lord said expressionlessly.

While the old man felt shock and fear in his heart, he also felt that he had been wrongly sentenced with a much too severe punishment. After all, how would he have known what kind of divine figure Jiu Yuanzhou was?

His carelessness had resulted in his not being able to cultivate for three years. As such, his cultivation would surely be exceeded by the other Great Lords.

“Great Lord, I had only just received the letter…” The old man with a long beard started to defend himself.

The Great Lord did not say anything else as he started scanning the letter. There were tea stains and wrinkles on it from its being placed on the chess board earlier.

“Where is the person who delivered this letter?” The Great Lord’s gaze turned from the old man with a long beard to the two elders in black and white robes.

Thump.

The elders in black and white robes turned pale. They felt as if the end of the world was upon them. The back of their robes were soaking wet from their sweat.

“Grandfather, the elders in black and white robes prevented the person who came with this letter from entering. He did not even have a chance to meet the Great Lords before he was forced to leave.” The Heavenly Water Tower’s Master glared at the two elders. She was secretly happy to see them in such a panicked state.

The two had always been prideful and disregarded everyone else. Today, it was their time to suffer for their poor manners.

The Great Lord’s black shadow figure vibrated as he asked softly, “How long has the letter been here?”

“Half a day.” The two elders spoke in unison with trembling voices.

Their faces looked even more horrified than a dead man’s as they felt the immense pressure that was coming from the Great Lord. They never would have dreamed that one tiny letter would cause them so much trouble!

“In that case, if it were not for the Heavenly Water Tower’s Master, were you planning on keeping the letter forever?” the Great Lord asked with an even harsher tone.

“Great Lord, please forgive us. We did not have that intention…” As the two elders in black and white robes bowed and started to beg for mercy, their foreheads banged on the floor loudly. It was clear that they were truly frightened.

The Great Lord sighed deeply. “You two have accompanied me for many years. I even entrusted you with the duty of safeguarding the Seven Lords Palace because I believed in you. However, I now know that you have become prideful and ignorant. You have made a terrible mistake. You know my rules. You are no longer suited to guard the doors to the Seven Lords Palace. You must leave.”